Scherzo dei Notte
by Ryrahd
Summary: [AU. Sasunaru] Never truly fitting in, Naruto drifted from city to city, searching for something intangible. By chance, he stumbles upon a quaint little town, but not everything is as it seems and at the root is a bonechilling secret...


**A/N:**_ I decided to resurrect this story and finish it once and for all. Fixed some errors in this chapter, as well. Also, the story is done and is sitting dandily on my hard drive, so updates will be regular. _

**Warnings:**_ This is an experimental genre for me so I am not at all certain of the outcome. Shounen-ai of varying degrees and of the SasuNaru variety; AU. Additional warnings are for gratuitous usage of foul language, possible creepiness and violence. _

**Disclaimer:**_ Naruto is trademarked Kishimoto Masashi, not me. _

-. . .-. . .-

**Scherzo dei Notte**

**Chapter I: Serpente e la Luna**

He could not move, he realized.

The muscles in his thighs and calves ached from the exhaustive run and if his feet weren't so firmly rooted to the ground, he might have buckled from the heaviness in his lungs. He forced himself to swallow greedy gulps of air and ignored the trembles that racked his small frame.

He wanted to run away. _Run. Run. _Pleas circled in his head like vultures but every fibre in his body was gelatine and refused to obey.Sweat gathered on his forehead and trickled onto his eyelids and down the straight line of his nose. With a childish desperation, he tried to blink away the sting from his eyes, as if by doing so he could also blink away the aches and the gnawing fear.

Fisting his small hand tighter around the handle of his school satchel, he looked around him at the moon-drenched streets. The houses were no more than dark silhouettes against an even darker sky, towering above him like shadowed menaces. He shivered involuntarily because of the cool breeze that brushed against his nape and slithered under his simple t-shirt.

He was not prepared for the sudden pain that arrowed through his body. A startled cry caught in his throat, fluttering there like a moth snared by the flame before dying. He gasped, fingers uncurling from the tight grip on his bag. His knees scraped against the rough stones on the ground as his legs buckled under him. The flesh tore on the jagged rocks and fine trickles of hot blood began to roll along his legs and then onto the ground.

He could not see the blood – it was far too dark to see – in his mind, though, he remembered its sheer redness, vivid and nauseating. But, as betraying tears gathered in his eyes, he was thankful for the lack of visibility.

His chest ached as he forced his numb lips to move. "Why. . .?" He breathed, battling with the tightness in his throat.

The night might have been playing a cruel joke on him (1) but he could have sworn that he had heard a low, guttural laugh drift from the shadows. Nestled above the rooftops and naked trees, he fancied that the moon looked on with a leer.

He wanted to scream something in retort, but his throat felt raw from quenching sobs. The quiet _tap tap_ of footfalls carried along the breeze. With each nearing step, fear sunk its claws deeper into his body, so much so that within mere seconds he could not breathe.

He could not remember a time when he was more terrified than at that moment. At the same instant hurt, betrayal and anger pinched on his insides.

The footsteps stopped and he felt the air become heavier.

"You should not have witnessed that. . ." Was whispered, so quietly he might have mistaken it for the fancy of the wind.

With all the strength he had, he ignored the bitter tears stinging his cheeks and clenched his fist around a random rock, squeezing it tightly enough to pierce skin.

He screamed.

Loud and guttural, until he could taste the bile rising to his throat and until there was no more air in him. He screamed out all his anger and despair, refusing to succumb to his small body's convulsions and knowing at the same time that it was useless.

"I hate you. . ."

-. . .-. . .-

The air rushed out of his lungs.

His eyes flung open, huge and unseeing in the darkness. He flailed his arms outward, desperately curling his fingers around tangled and sweat-soaked sheets. His lips trembled as he struggled to suck in greedy mouthfuls of air. With a panicked grunt, he kicked at invisible enemies and struggled to move his tongue over the ball that was stuck in his throat.

As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, he saw the shadows morph into their normal states. The outlines of naked, gnarly trees took shape outside his window; the ceiling beams settled into their respective places and the snakes coiling on his bed transformed into his sheets.

_'Just a dream.' _Sasuke thought bitterly and pinched his eyes tightly, bringing his hands to his face to rub away the weariness.

After a while of holding his eyes deliberately closed, trying to convince himself to return to sleep, Sasuke realized that that would be futile. He sat up and his bed groaned tiredly under the weight, as if in protest. He sat at the edge of the bed, face cupped in his hands as he surveyed his despondent room. Bare walls, bare windows, a dresser and a bed drowning in sheets. He did not need such a large bed, he realized, but on some nights, when the nightmares ate his sleep and he tossed in efforts to escape, at least he knew that he would not fall off the edge.

Sasuke squinted at the numbers on his watch and determined with a grimace that normal people would be insane to even consider getting out of bed this early. Sighing quietly into the abnormal stillness of the room, Sasuke combed his hand through his hair and got to his feet. The sweatpants he slept in clung to the back of his thighs as he moved toward the door. He needed a shower, Sasuke admitted when his reflection in the bathroom mirror glared at him from beneath sweat-coated bangs.

It took him a good half-hour to scrub away at the soreness that knotted his muscles. When he walked into his kitchen later, barefooted and dripping, the sun was just considering waking up, brushing the bottom of the horizon with a pale blue-gray. Sasuke did not bother to turn the light on; he was well familiar with the contents of his kitchen. He prepared his light breakfast quietly and efficiently, though there was no hurry. The groan of his chair as he sat down to eat was acutely loud in the stillness of the house and he made extra effort to thoroughly chew his food.

Not bothering to clean the kitchen after himself, Sasuke returned to his room and changed into some light clothes and set outside for a routine jog. He hesitated on his porch, hand curled around the doorknob as if he was poised between safety and a life-threatening situation. With a frown and a mental scolding for his foolishness, Sasuke stepped off the raised platform. He did not bother to lock the door. No one would break in at such an early hour, he reasoned, and besides, he didn't really possess anything valuable— just sharp-edged memories and pieces of the life he wished he could forget.

It rained that night, Sasuke realized as he stepped into a fresh puddle nestled amongst the cracks in the pathway. His toes curled involuntarily when the cold water seeped through the fabric of his shoes. As the cold began to spread through his foot, crawling up his joints and into the bone marrow, Sasuke found himself unable to look away from the puddle. The rapidly graying sky mirrored in the water, his reflection nothing but a dark blur in the grayness.

A memory of when he was small surfaced in his mind. He remembered the fishpond in his older cousin's garden. His mother allowed him to wander on his own even though he was no more than five or six at the time. Sasuke distinctly remembered being fascinated by the water. He could see the reflection of the gold and red leaves and as he crouched for a closer inspection, he saw the rock-strewn waterbed. His cousin told him there were no fish in the pond but he could have almost sworn that he saw a flick of silvery tail.

At the time he was so entranced with the water that he did not notice his brother creep up on him. Sasuke remembered his brother's cold hands as he placed them on his back and then pushed him into the water with a laugh.

He remembered the sharp sting of the water along his arms and back and the burn the sudden absence of oxygen left in his lungs. His memory was hazy, but he could recall struggling to resurface, thrusting his little legs and arms to try to gain some sort of leverage and finding none. Sasuke remembered the mouthfuls of water he swallowed as he opened his mouth again and again to try to get the air back into his body. His frantic cries for help were distorted by the water and reverberated back into his ears. His hair and clothes were suddenly everywhere and numbness due to the lack of air was beginning to set in.

But he clearly remembered looking up and seeing his brother's laughing face above the surface of the water, the golden-red hues of the leaves and the pale sky creating beams of light and nearly blinding him. He remembered reaching out to his brother, extending his arms as far as they would go and until he thought his bones would snap.

That is where his memory of the incident began to dissipate. He recalled hands reaching toward him, pulling him into the harsh, stinging light. Perhaps he was pulled onto the shore or maybe someone carried him there, but he coughed out a lot of water and nearly collapsed from the exertion.

Later, his brother teasingly explained to him that he was underwater for no more than twenty seconds and that it was not deep enough to drown in — it didn't even reach Sasuke's breastbone. After an apology, they trudged indoors; both were relatively soaked and the women raised quite a fuss because of the wet mess that was left on the floors.

With a low growl, Sasuke tore his gaze away from the water. He balled his hands into tightly clenched fists, digging his fingers deep enough to leave half-moon impressions on his palms. Silently cursing himself for the slip-up, he walked the rest of the way to the gate and wasted no time in moving away from the property.

His house, which he always found too large for just him and his ghosts, stood against the edge of the forest that surrounded the expanse of the village, He was silently glad for that because it gave him protection form prying eyes. There was a narrow, unpaved trail that led into the less dense part of the forest and circled around a watchtower. He frequently jogged along this particular path because it steered away from the residential area and gave him a bit of privacy from unwanted onlookers.

A quick glance at the rapidly brightening sky told him that he did not have much time before the rest of the town began to stir in their comfortable beds and start the hubbub of daily life. He picked up his pace and reminded himself to set his shoes outside to dry because every time his feet touched the ground the wetness retained in the soles of shoes and seeped through his socks.

He shivered as the cool autumn breeze picked up. In the cold, gray light of the early morning he thought that the tree branches looked like black spindly limbs touching the edges of the sky. He shivered again and silently told his lungs to keep pumping.

-. . .-. . .-

"Can't. . . go on. . . feet preparing for shutdown. . .5, 4. . .. 3..2. . ...1. . ..dead. . .."

Naruto sank to his knees with an almost immodest sigh escaping his lips. He officially lost all feelings in the lower part of his body and it would not be long, he determined, before the rest of him turned to mush.

With the last reservoir of his strength, Naruto reached for his ragbag and, after punching it into a move comfortable shape, put it under his head. It was not a very good pillow, he decided, but the rest of him ached in so many places that the fluffiness of his pillow did not really matter. With a tired sigh and a frown, he looked through slitted lids at the sky, which churned a dull gray. He hated rain because it meant that he would be soaked and would have to spend the night fighting off hypothermia.

"Damn. . . damn, damn! This. . .. totally blows!" He muttered around a button he'd been sucking on — a trick to fool his stomach into thinking it was full.

Naruto desperately longed for a comfortable bed, a warm hearth to heat up his travel-worn limbs and a hot meal. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had ramen and his belly was perennially grumbling in protest. He was exhausted beyond what mere sleep deprivation and hunger could do to a man; his entire body, even his bones, were permeated with a slow, festering fatigue. Naruto had been travelling for a long time now, never stopping at any location for more than a week.

He pegged himself an outcast, but he wore it like a badge on his sleeve. A full-toothed smile was always ready on his face, and it was always free. Even in this pathetic state — spread-eagle in the middle of a road leading to nowhere, nothing more to him than the clothes on his back and a bag stuffed with precious photographs and other useless things; watching the sky and sucking on a button — he still offered a bright grin to birds crossing the sky.

His memories of most of his young life were hazy, though there was not much to remember but ostracism and destitution. Which, he supposed, were partly due to the odd markings on his face. He didn't have a home or a family; he was teased in school and frowned upon by the townsfolk, and at night he sometimes cried. And so he left his birthplace in search of something better. . .

It was at that moment that he saw the small trail of smoke reach up to the sky. The smoke could mean only a two things: either some other desperado searching for home had set up camp nearby and was roasting a meal over a fire, or (and Naruto couldn't really decide which possibility he liked best), the smoke was coming from chimneys, which probably led to a village. His brain made the quick connection between himself and the possibility of a town and came to a natural conclusion: food!

As if the energy had been miraculously restored to his limbs, Naruto vaulted upright and wasted no time stumbling to his feet and gathering his things.

"Yosh'!" He thumped a fist into an open palm. Pointing a finger in the direction of the smoke trail, Naruto announced in a victorious tone, "The food is ahead, and so the journey of The Great Uzumaki Naruto continues!"

In near record time, Naruto sped down the road. It was hard to believe that this same young man had claimed death less than ten minutes prior. Not too far ahead, he could see tall support posts rising over the branches like beacons. Watchtowers stood on each side of massive doors. A fence that nearly dwarfed the trees ran in both directions and disappeared into the forest. With an extra spring in his step, Naruto hurried over to the gates.

A shadow fell over Naruto as he stopped before giant doors and he reminded himself to breathe. The hopelessness, despair and months of isolation and travels meshed into one jumbled emotion until he could almost weep with joy. Heart hammering in his chest, he pounded on the heavy wood with all the might he had.

"Oi! O–i! I said, Oi!" He hollered at the top of his voice. "A very tired and hungry traveller out here! Can someone open the door!"

Naruto waited for a response, but after a full minute of no sound other than his own breathing, he began to panic. He pounded even harder, blistering his palms on the rough wood of the door.

A note of desperation slipped into his voice as he continued to shout. "I mean no harm, I swear! I know I've made a lot of promises over the years but this time I'm not lying, honest! I promise to be good and I won't draw buggers on statues, and I won't peek into the women's bathhouse and I even won't sing in the shower if someone ju —"

His spiel was cut short when someone peeked over the side of one of the watchtowers. Naruto nearly swallowed his tongue in elation. He grinned widely at the man and waved to him exuberantly.

"Ne, ne, oji-san can you let me in?"

The man in the watchtower said nothing for a long moment, remaining motionless. To Naruto, whose smile faded away under the watchman's scrutiny, it seemed that the man's face had been swallowed by the shadows of his hood. Fine chills scaled Naruto's arms and sides. He lowered his arm with deliberate slowness.

Naruto was seriously considering turning around and walking straight back where he came from; he remembered a fork in the road some miles away that might take him somewhere more friendly. The man spoke, then, in a low, deep timbre.

"Are you the one making all the ruckus?"

Naruto waved off the watchman's claim with a shrug, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I've been on the road for many months now, and I'm tired and starving," he said instead, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. "And I was wondering if I could take a rest in this town. . . maybe?"

The guard hesitated in his response once again, dodging to his side for an instant before returning to lean over the edge of the watch post. "You may enter," he said quietly, though Naruto did not hear him because at that moment the heavy mechanism that kept the door closed whirred into life.

Naruto bounced on balls of his feet, gripping his bag of belongings as if he might somehow lose it in the excitement of the moment. He loved being around many people; the diversity, the different lifestyles, the sheer humanity that could only be experienced around large crowds — Naruto was fascinated by it all, perhaps because he lacked a lot of those aspects when he was growing up. Months spent alone, however, left him virtually starved for human contact and very eager to interact with something living.

A wave of cool air swept over him as the doors were completely open. The watchman was waiting for him just inside the threshold, beckoning him with an outstretched arm. In better light, Naruto realized that the man was probably in his late twenties and very ordinary looking, with mousy hair and dark eyes — not some faceless hooded spectre as it seemed to Naruto from the watchtower. A shiver of excitement ran down the length of Naruto's body before he swallowed a mouthful of air and told himself to move.

"Alright, oji-san!" Naruto exclaimed when he came to stand beside the guard in the threshold. "You totally saved me!"

The man looked at him oddly from atop his nose, an indiscernible grimace on his face.

Naruto felt himself shrivel under the gaze. "Ne, ne, oji-san, do I have snot on my face or something?" The guard, who kept his eyes trained on the scar-like markings on Naruto's face, obviously did not appreciate the jest.

"It has been a long time since we've had strangers in our town," said the watchman in the same quiet, low voice. An anecdote flitted to Naruto's lips but seeing the frown on the man's face he wisely chose to bite his tongue. "I need to close the gates now; night will set in soon. And you better find yourself some place to stay for the night; I hear it will rain."

Naruto did not have a chance to say a word edgewise before the guard was walking back to his post ay the side of the gate. "Hey, hey, oji-san," Naruto called after him, a little miffed that he was not given enough attention. "Where and what is this place? What type of money is used here? Any place I can get some ramen?"

"Konohagure," the watchman replied and was silent, though Naruto was spewing more questions at him.

Naruto watched him as he pulled down a lever and the gate mechanism grated to life. He shrugged off the thought that perhaps the watchman had a few loose screws in the personality department. Turning his back to the gate, he shifted his belongings on his shoulder and headed down the first street he could see. Behind him, the ancient wood of the door groaned under the strain and was sealed shut with an ominous_ thud._

-. . .-. . .-

Nearly an hour later, decidedly more exhausted and positively ravished, Naruto was still wandering the streets of the quaint, little village. The onslaught of night was already becoming evident in the sky, where its edges touched the forest and faded into dark blue. Streetlights flickered to life, illuminating buildings and alleys. Only a couple of people ambled the streets, their footsteps echoing along the cobbled roads. The few people he attempted to converse with had looked at him oddly and trotted away without a word. Naruto was beginning to think that he'd die of starvation before the night was over. _Which would be a shame_, he told himself, because things were finally beginning to look up for him.

Naruto was about to give up and slump against a nearby light post when the unmistakable scent of food virtually tugged at his nose hairs and pulled him toward its source. He came upon a little food stand sandwiched between shops. The banner above the stall proudly declared_ Ichiraku's_; a sign hanging off the side of the stall proclaimed that it was 'open'. His stomach nearly caved in. Hastily, Naruto stumbled under the tarp that protected the bar and the seating area.

Naruto took a seat on one of the high stools pushed up against the bar and peered at the surroundings. A lone patron sat at the other end of the bar, slouched down in front of his meal so that only his back was exposed to the soft glow of a suspended lantern. The bar itself was bare-boned; shelves were scant save for a few bottles and glasses, a dusty menu hung to the side and a door opened to the back of the establishment. He caught sight of movement from the back.

A little uneasy, Naruto pulled his belonging onto his lap and firmly told himself that he was being paranoid.

"Of course there has to be someone working here," he muttered to himself conspiratorially, despite the fact that he was virtually alone. "_That_ guy's eating and he couldn't have just magicked the food into existence." A little surer of himself, Naruto called more loudly, "Excuse me, mysterious-chef-person, but can I have some food here!"

"Shut the Hell up! If — Oh. . .."

Naruto froze mid-thought, jaw slacking like a fish's.

A girl appeared from the back of the bar mere seconds after he spoke. She blinked at him uncertainly, her hair falling wildly around her face as if she was in a hurry. After gathering her senses, she apologized profusely, flushing with embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry! I simply wasn't expecting any customers at this time and I - I . . . Can I take your order, sir?"

The girl was speaking so fast that Naruto could do nothing other than blink at her until his brain caught on. "Five super-large bowls of ramen and a bottle of rice wine, please," he replied with a toothy grin.

She regarded him strangely for a moment, her brows knitting together. "Right away, sir," she replied after a while and with a polite bow retreated to the back of the establishment again.

Feeling considerably more relaxed, Naruto slumped into his seat. He grinned to himself. The girl sure was pretty — petite with large green eyes and soft-looking pink hair. He could feel the back of his ears heating up as he thought of her.

"So what's your name?" He asked her as she returned with his order.

"Haruno Sakura," She replied as she cautiously set a bowl in front of him. Even before the porcelain connected with the surface of the counter, the stranger dug into his ramen, almost scorching himself because in his haste he forgot to use the chopsticks she provided him. She observed him with almost uninhibited awe, her eyebrows climbing up her forehead as she watched him shovel the soup down his throat with an uncanny ferocity.

"Uwaa! So good!" Naruto virtually melted at his first swallow of solid food. "Such a pretty name, Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed around bits of noodles, soup rolling down his chin.

"Th-thank you. . ." Sakura didn't know what to say, really. On one hand she was fascinated by this stranger — his mannerisms, his appearance, his unnatural ability to eat faster than a blinking eye — and on the other hand, she was disgusted by his lack of manners.

"Who are you?" She asked him sometime after his third bowl. She could tell that the sake was having an effect on him.

He grinned at her and puffed out his chest, announcing, "I am The Great Uzumaki Naruto!" His lips curled around his words, as if he was boasting about a great achievement. "Remember that name, Sakura-chan, because someday I'll be a hero. . . or something like that! And -and I'll have monuments built to look like me and everyone will know my name and stupid teachers will have to talk about how great I am in school an — "

"Oi, Great Idiot, shut up."

The other customer, who until that moment was silent, spoke up. Naruto swivelled on his seat fast enough to nearly upturn a nearby stool. He regarded the man angrily, grinding his teeth together. The man was still concealed in shadows, though by his smaller frame Naruto could tell that he was not much older than himself. This, perhaps, irritated Naruto the most because he hated being shown off by someone in his own age group.

"Who do you think you are talking to Uzumaki Naruto that way?" He pointed an accusing finger at the man.

The man chewed diligently before replying, aggravating Naruto even more. "I'm a paying customer and I it find hard to eat with you spewing garbage."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, recoiling slightly.

Naruto visibly flinched, fisting his hands into his jumpsuit. "What do you know, bastard?"

"I know that you're full of hot air, idiot." The smirk was clear in his voice.

Like a spring, Naruto was ready to pounce on the bastard. "I should pound you into the ground for calling me an idiot, you stupid bastard."

Another smirk. "Why don't you, _idiot_?"

"You —"

"No!" Naruto's attempt to launch an attack on the man was stopped by Sakura's timely yell. She reached across the counter, grabbed hold of his arm and dug her fingers deep enough to prevent him from making another move. "Please don't, Naruto-kun!"

Instantaneously, all the anger drained out of him, replaced with unrestrained delight as he realized that her hands were on him. A red flush travelled from the tips of his ears across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. His eyes glazed over and he took his seat compliantly.

From that moment, still a little sore about the spat with the other patron, Naruto chugged down the rice wine as if it was sweet ambrosia. Sasuke did not utter another word, for which Naruto was eternally thankful because if that pompous bastard provoked him again he would not be responsible for his actions.

A considerable amount of time and a bottle of sake latter, more than a little dizzy and feeling like he'd been pumped full of air, Naruto ventured to ask Sakura about the inhabitants of the town.

Sakura spared a glance at Sasuke, who she knew was paying close attention. The hesitation was clear on her face though in his drunken stupor Naruto was nearly blind.

"Not many people come to this town," she began, propping her elbows against the bar and drawing closer to him so that she could whisper. "You're the first stranger I've seen in a long time, in fact. We only want to live in peace here. . . The forest is a natural shelter from tourists and the only road that leads here is unpaved so the only people that come to there parts these days are travellers like yourself."

"Oh. . . Sou kaa. . ." Naruto murmured intelligently, nearly pooling onto the counter as she continued quietly.

"But the forest is also very dangerous. Wolves and other beasts live in the woods. They come out to hunt after dark, so most of the villagers stay indoors for safety." Her voice took on a shaky timbre and Naruto found himself leaning closer to her. "Though you have nothing to worry about. There hasn't been a single bizarre occurrence in nearly a decade. But still, it is safer to stay inside at night, just in case a rampant beast breaks into our town."

Naruto shook his head as if to dispel a momentary haze. "Wow, Sakura-chan," he said shakily, partially because the alcohol was slurring his brain, and took another sip of the wine, "you're kinda freaking me out here."

She waved the comment off and reached for his bowls. "Don't worry, Naruto-k —"

"Who's worried?"

Smiling ruefully, she deposited his bowls at the back of the bar and continued, "Yes, yes. Well, in any case, try not to wander at night or you might get lost."

"Sure, sure, Sakura-chan. . . anything you say. . ."

After a jaw-breaking yawn, Naruto slumped against the counter, pillowing his head on his hands. He was much too full and tired to give coherent thought to anything, and so he drifted into oblivious sleep.

-. . .-. . .-

"Why!"

She flinched as Sasuke stared her down with those dark eyes. Involuntarily, a shiver crept up her spine and she had to look away. "Why what? You know that I can't," she retorted, still unable to meet his eyes.

"He got into this himself," he scowled. " It's not my problem if he's an idiot."

Sakura ran her hand through her hair, tugging on the tangles as if to undo the day's frustration. She sighed deeply, realizing to the first time that she was exhausted. "So what do you suggest? I can't just leave him here, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke scoffed, glaring at the prone body. "And why not?"

"Just look at him!" Sakura gestured frantically at the body. _'You're being impossible again,'_ the thought ran through her head, _'and it's during these moments that I wish I could beat some sense into you, Sasuke.'_

"The poor thing is skin and bones! You saw the way he ate tonight; I don't think he even took the time to chew!"

Sasuke crossed his arms across his chest and looked away from the idiot."That still doesn't explain why I have to take him in."

"Because you live all alone in that huge —"

He turned to glare at her with an audible _snap_ of his neck. "Sakura."

The girl froze, for an instant terrified by his expression."Forgive me. I shouldn't have said that. . ." She frowned at her mistake and berated herself mentally. As a last resort, she struck out her bottom lip and looked at him from underneath her eyelashes. "Just for tonight. Please. I'll repay you."

Sasuke found himself stupidly agreeing to her request before he even realized.". . .All right,'' he said through clenched teeth.

Sakura heaved a grateful sigh. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke moved off to prop Naruto against his body, slinging his limp arm around his neck. With great effort, he shifted Naruto off the stool and onto solid ground.

"I'll keep his belongings for now," Sakura piped in from the back of the bar. "And I'll keep his tab until next time."

Sasuke did not bother to reply and with great difficulty moved on with his burden down the street. He cursed his inability to refuse her and the idiot for being stupid enough to drink himself into unconsciousness. It wasn't until he was some distance away that he recalled something.

"Why did you lie to him?" He called out to Sakura. His voice ricocheted off the road and the buildings and even the air itself. He knew she's heard him and he waited for her response though none came.

(TBC. . .)

-. . .-. . .-

_(1) Scherzo di Notte means 'joke of the night' in Italian._


End file.
